Dallas Cowboys DE Donovan Ezeiruaku DOMINATES CAMP | Day 3 STANDOUTS!

Dallas Cowboys DE Donovan Ezeiruaku DOMINATES CAMP | Day 3 STANDOUTS!

Donovan Ezaraku is already proving to be the steel of the 2025 draft. We’ll tell you why next. You are Locked On Cowboys, your daily Dallas Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back to the Locked On Cowboys podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. We’d like to thank you for making us your first listen of the day. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use promo code lockdown NFL for $20 off your first purchase. Welcome back. I am your host, Marcus Moer. You can follow me on Twitter, Marcus_MoER. And joining me today as always is Landon Mcool. You can follow him on Twitter, Mcoolbc. And on today’s show, we’re gonna talk about some of the biggest winners and losers from day three of training camp over in Oxnard for your Dallas Cowboys. And I think the winner here is pretty obvious. Yeah, it sure sounds like Donovan Ezaraku had a really great day. I mean, all the clips we saw, he was just exploding off the screen. He’s making plays, getting sacks, or or at least whatever the early part of training camp equivalent of a sack is, uh, you know, where they they he’s basically it disrupted the play, but they let them continue to go on. Um, and he did it a variety, continues to do it in a variety of ways. I mean, that’s the thing that we remember about him coming out is that he had a really deep pass rushing bag and we saw saw it on display a little bit. Uh, you seen a little bit of the rips, the the you mentioned the euroep with a chop, I think, at the end as well. Um, but he’s he’s got just such advanced hands. And then on top of that, you’re also seeing the explosiveness. There was that one rep against Gayton where I mean, he was shot out of a can. He looked like Mike Parson’s coming off the ball. Uh, so, you know, again, it’s early days. None of this matters in without pads, but we’re what we’re observing what we can about these guys. And one thing that we can say about Ezrau, very welldeveloped hands, very explosive player off the football. Yeah. And one of the things, shout out to our guy Sigman Bloom, is drum beats, right? We talk about this all off season, is it’s one thing to have one really good practice, but when we start getting really excited is when these guys start to put together multiple practices, and it ends up being multiple weeks, and it’s that drum beat of solid practices, of good information coming in and coming out in the last two days for Donovan Ezaraku have been unbelievable. Before you panic about Tyler Gayton, he’s been doing this against a lot of different offensive linemen, whether it’s Tyler Booker, Terrence Steel yesterday, uh Cooper BB, like he’s been able to beat all of these guys. So, he’s not just picking on one tackle. Um I’m I’m starting to have some unrealistic expectations for Donovan Ezrau, and it might be warranted. Well, I mean, let’s let’s look at it this way, right? like Dante Fowler is also going against Tyler Giden and Dante Fowler has had a good but not you know super impressive camp so far that we’ve worthy of commenting uh and Ezrau is going against those same guys it does so I think that’s at least a good measuring stick of where we’re seeing Ezrau uh versus some of the other players just inside his own competition and that’s a great place to be right to be ahead of the uh 10 sack veteran that you signed in the offseason as a rookie. Uh, you know, again, no pads. We’re I cannot stress that enough. We’ll get that this Sunday. But, you know, for what you were allowed to see at this point without pads, the athleticism, the technique, it’s there. And and so, we just need to see it confirmed with pads, and I think we’re we’re we’re going to be excited that we’ve got something. All right, let’s let’s wildly speculate. Don’t do not hold us to any of these takes. Yes. What could we what could we expect from Ezrau this year? Because as I’m watching some of these clips, I’m thinking, are we sure that he that Dante Fowler and Sam Williams should be playing over him? Marshia Neland, I get a little bit because they’re just very different types of, you know, body types and Nan’s going to have a role. But maybe you bring in Azerku on third downs, but starting to think like is Azeraku the the long-term pairing with Micah Parsons on the other side. I I think the way it goes for my expectations is okay, let’s let’s, you know, before we got here, right, like it’s let’s get him to a spot where we can feel comfortable about using him regularly as a that we not even feel comfortable that we are excited about using him as a defensive pass rusher specialist, right? And now I think we’ve seen enough that if he kind of confirms and carries over what what he’s done in mini camp at OTAAS and in the early part of training camp into what we’ve seen with pads now I’m starting to ask questions like okay well he’s clearly shown us something against the pass. How is he against the run? Is this is this a situation where he’s you know so far advanced that he’s actually negating some of the uh undersized aspect of his game. he’s actually able to hold up on the run and play that equally well. Then we’re talking about something truly special. We’re talking about a guy that is able to come in at a very difficult position uh uh and and play, you know, not just a limited role that that fits his, you know, initial skill set, but like a larger starter role uh which I think I mean honestly even Fowler at this point hasn’t quite yet proven that we would like play him that way. So, uh, I think, you know, right now it’s like, man, we’ve really got something as a guy who could come in as a third pass rusher or as a, you know, designated pass rusher on third downs. Uh, if he continues to show this, I think you can start setting your sights maybe beyond that, uh, and see if he can meet those goals as well. I’m just so excited. I mean, just watching some of those clips, and again, it’s not just one play and it’s not just two plays. Like, it’s consistent. Every time you watch him rush the passer, he’s either getting a great jump off the line of scrimmage or he’s using a euroep or a spin move or he’s dipping inside. Like this is what makes him so unique. He’s he’s a 21-year-old that’s got all these different pass rush moves. Yeah. On top of having long arms and having a really good quick uh first quick step. That what that’s what makes him such a unique talent. And that’s honestly why I thought he was a lock to be a first round pick. I’m I’m still shocked that he fell to the Cowboys in the second round. Yeah. I mean, that was the thing about it that was really shocking to us is that, you know, he checks all the boxes of a first round pass rusher. There’s absolutely nothing about his game other than the fact that you looked at the scale when he stepped on it that maybe makes but it’s not like there haven’t been 240 pound pass rushers, you know, uh uh drafted in the in the first round. So, yeah, there really wasn’t any specific reason you feel like he wouldn’t have been drafted in the first round. He he was a productive player. He had, you know, checked all the boxes in the testing, had an incredible off season. So, yeah, was great in the Senior Bowl. So, it’s like, why wouldn’t this guy go in the first round and and the Cowboys obviously benefited from a situation where it felt like because of sequencing, because of needs at the bottom of the of the first round, uh, a really great player fell to them at the top of the second round. Yeah. Yeah, and this was a good edge rush class and that helped, right? It helped that he got pushed down a little bit. He’s 6’2, 248 lbs. And there’s just some teams out there that are going to eliminate these guys from their board. So, you know, if you’re not over 255 pounds, they don’t want you in your scheme. But for Matt Eberloose, he’s always had these undersized ed rushers. And one of the things that we talked about, even when Matt Eberloose was here back in 2014, 2015, 2016, you look at Demarcus Lawrence. I know it’s hard to think about Demarcus Lawrence is this, but Lawrence was a 6’3, barely 250lb ed rusher coming out of Boise State and he kind of developed into this big power guy, which is funny because that’s not what he was at all at Boise State. He’s been fine playing multiple small edges on the field at one time. I don’t think I don’t think Matt Ebberloose is going to have a problem putting Micah Parsons and Donovan Ezaraku on the field at the same time. Yeah, as long as he’s getting good angles and he’s playing a little bit more on the open side of the field with, you know, no tight end on the other side of him, I think he can hold up on early downs as well and be a guy that you’re not just using on third downs. He’s really shown us something out here. again, need pads. But I I think with with that combination of skill set, you already feel good about if he has a skill set uh like technique-wise to get in there and be a pass rusher. And what we’ve seen out here is that not only does he have a skill set, it’s for it’s varied, it’s it’s it’s deep uh and and he has a very natural sense on when and how to deploy those uh different counters and how to work off of his initial moves. All right, let’s talk more about the Cowboys defense because they were the big stars of Thursday’s practice. We’ll dive into that group next. This episode is brought to you by Game Time. Have you ever decided that at the last minute that you wanted to head to the ball game with your friends and your family? Maybe it’s game day and you suddenly realize that you have to be in the stands. That’s exactly where game time comes in. It’s the easiest way to grab lastminute tickets without all of the stress. And with the money that you save on your tickets, you can splurge on food, drinks, merch, or even invite a bigger group to come with you. And Game Time makes it all possible. Game Time makes buying tickets fast and simple. Prices on the app actually go down the closer that you get to first pitch. And they’ve got incredible deals. Uh, they’ve got clear seat views and a lowest price guarantee that takes the worry out of buying. So, take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use promo code lots on NFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply again. Create an account. Redeem promo code lots on NFL for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Welcome back to the Lot Done Cowboys podcast. We’d like to thank you for making us your first listen of the day. Landon is going to be out at Cowboys Camp next week. Uh we want to let you guys know, go follow the Lot Done Cowboys Tik Tok account. Uh Landon does some great work with shorts. He’s going to be recording them uh over uh next week in Oxnard trying to get that account up to a thousand uh followers. So we can do some live videos for you. But yes, please go check it out. Lot done Cowboys on TikTok. All right, let’s talk about the defense because it seems like they’re ahead of the offense right now. It was a great day by the defense. I did have one little note that I wanted to throw at you. I don’t know if you saw it, but on the Malik Cooker one-handed interception in the end zone, uh, one of the plays where Donovan Azaraku just blew off the line of scrimmage. It was so fast. De Marv and Overshone was like celebrating and was beating everybody else down the field after the interception. Uh, and he goes on Twitter saying that’s like 70% speed for him. That guy looks unbelievably fast right now. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the guy’s never had a problem running in a straight line, that’s for sure. Um, so yeah, I mean, obviously encouraging for for his outlook for the season, uh, or some point this season. It’s obviously not imminent, but it’s it’s the fact that he’s able to do that at this point, uh, means that he’s certainly on schedule and that, you know, you feel good about, you know, the potential schedule that we’ve discussed going on so far. We’ve got four months until Thanksgiving. I would bet that we see him back by Thanksgiving just kind of based on what we saw from the video. And I know cutting and being able to take contact and all that kind of is different, but if he’s running like that four months away from his expected timeline, I think he’s going to get there. I mean, he’s already on chords. They already have these guys on chords, so it’s like Yeah. I mean, I think meeting that shouldn’t be uh that that should be with the expected slow ramp up. I think I think he very much is on track at this point. All right, let’s talk about some of the other winners on the defensive side of the ball. Uh we want to talk about Maris Leaf, the Cowboys second round, sorry, the Cowboys third round linebacker, secondyear player, uh from Notre Dame. What did you see? Yeah, I mean there’s been a lot of talk about, you know, Overshon and his injury and then, you know, obviously they went out and we talked about it like it it surprised us that they went out and signed two linebackers. I mean, I think the Sandborn signing specifically made a lot of sense. Uh, but Kenneth, the Kenneth Murray situation, it was like I think you understand it potentially as some depth, but but for him to them to come out here and to get the Devon so early, the difference so early to to the starting spot, uh, was a little bit surprising because there were some guys here that we felt like, you know, had come in and done some things last year to kind of at least earn an opportunity. Uh and now we’ve seen Kenneth Murray has uh had a child and is is was away from practice today and and the linebackers that were uh in there in his place really took advantage of that. Leaf Foul continues to look the part. He’s gained, you know, he looks like he’s gained, you know, probably 10 15 pounds of muscle and and he looks really really big and he still looks explosive. He’s, you know, diagnosing a lot faster. He’s getting into uh the the hole a lot quicker and and meeting the the ball carrier uh at, you know, before he gets any depth. And then we saw a guy like Deon Clark who I I kind of been quietly trying to help people not forget about. Uh he got a forced fumble uh in a run uh play today. So yeah, it’s great because I I think we need to see these young linebackers step up because I think we know what we’ve got in a Kenneth Murray. I think we know what we’ve got in a Jack Sandborn. If we want, we’ve talked about this when we went over the linebacker review. If we want to see the ceiling of this room, we need these young linebackers, not not just Demarian Overshon. We need the rest of these young linebackers to get opportunities and to shine when they have those opportunities. Uh, another guy that I wanted to mention, Solomon Thomas. I saw him get a a he beat Tyler Smith. I’m not quite sure whether it would have been a sack or not, but he cleanly beat him off the line of scrimmage. He had another pressure. seems like he’s been somebody that’s been working on and off with the first team, kind of rotating in. I think the again I could be wrong, but I think the hope is maybe he’s the guy that comes in on passing downs, third downs, replaces Mazy Smith, and now you play him and OSA together. Now you’ve got two guys that are incredibly lean and athletic and can get up the field. And that’s how you can kind of create a pass rush without having to blitz all the time. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that you’re going to probably spin those three around at all the spots at different points. Uh and then obviously to to get an opportunity if he if he can prove himself to earn, you know, a limited amount of snaps on very specific situations. So yeah, I I think Thomas is a guy that they need to come in here and and to play well. I mean, certainly as the DT3 on this group, uh and it seems like he’s well on his way there. Let’s see what happens when the Pats come on. Are you surprised that the defense is ahead of the offense right now considering Micah Parsons isn’t practicing? No Demarian Overshon, uh, no Don Bland the last two days, no Trayvon Diggs, and it seems like they’re kind of getting the better of the first string unit that has far less changes. I think to me what I’m seeing is I’m I’m I’m happy about the play because it’s it’s you know it again like what I don’t want to see are guys running streaking wide open you know or you know just ineptitude to the point where the which we’ve seen a couple of times with the second team where Joe Milton will just be like uh whatever and just start you know running the ball like that’s a real option in these drills right he’s just because the defense has basically broken down the play to the point where uh It’s a give up situation. So, we’ve only seen a couple of those. And that’s really what you’re trying to avoid. I I think we’ve seen big swings, big plays happen either way. And I I think that that’s an indication that it’s evenly played football, which I think is good. However, it’s it’s hard to deny that the defense is ahead at this point of the offense, which is normal. But I the reason that you know we’re not feeling the the losses of several big players obviously and Bland and Parsons is because I think you’re seeing other guys really step up and play well. We we you know we just finished talking about what the how great Ezrau has been and and that’s you know after just finishing talking about how great Nean and Williams were the other day as well. I think you’ve seen those guys really improve. I think that helps the corner back position in these, you know, 11on 111 drills that we’re watching. And then on top of that, I think you’ve seen guys like Elum step up and play really good football. Uh I think Israel Mwamu has had had lots of opportunities to be play in the slot and I think he’s held up there well from what we’ve seen so far. Um so I I think Yeah. Yeah. I I’m a little surprised, but but you know, again, the natural inclination, you know, with all things being even, is that defense should be a little bit ahead at this point, early stage. It’s just that we’re having to consider 20 other things, including new coordinators and who’s injured and all this stuff. So, I I think this we’re probably right on track of where we’re supposed to be. I I did have one question I wanted to ask you about the offense before we kind of move on to some other stuff. Again, I I don’t know what to believe, but Duce Vaughn, according to multiple beat reporters who are there at practice, is having a good camp. They said he’s put together back-to-back strong days. He’s reading the holes better. First of all, do you believe it? And second of all, do you think the change in scheme going to more of a, you know, gap run game could actually help Duce Vaughn a little bit? I I I do believe the latter point. I do think that this situation is the best chance that Duce Vaughn has to look good because it it’s, you know, obviously it’s he’s familiar with it. I would assume or at least he’s getting kind of conducted by a similar uh voice that he had in college, right? Uh it and it is definitely closer to the schemes that they were running in Kansas State. Um, you know, reading the holes, I saw a clip where the left side of the offensive line collapsed the defense down into, you know, the right side and he bounced back. Yeah. He just cut back off of that. So, I don’t know, you know, about reading holes. I think again, without pads, well, without real tackling. And this is the other thing. It’s like, yeah, you watch some of these drills, right? And he might get a hand on his thigh as he’s going through a hole. For some running backs, that’s not a big deal. But one of the things that Duce Fon has just not been able to do consistently in in his NFL career is break tackles, right? Yes. So, a run that looks like it might be a 12 yard run might only actually be a three yard run because of a tackle that happens near the line of scrimmage. I I just don’t know. I that’s this is a long way of me saying I just don’t know what until something changes compared to what we’ve seen over the last two years. I’m kind of just going to believe that it’s probably not real. He looks quick. He looks he looks uh uh decisive, but I he is also the guy more than all of these guys that has the most to prove when the pads come on and he’s running the football. I think we’re going to see a lot of him and Jaden Blue in the preseason, which is fine by me. I would love to see those guys get a bunch of touches. It’ll be it’ll be fun to see how that running back uh situation plays out. All right, let’s talk about a bigname defensive tackle who was released on Thursday who might be able to help the Cowboys. We will get to that next. This episode is brought to you by Yahoo Fantasy. Fantasy football is back. Fire up the group chat. Get your draft board ready and buckle up for a season filled with breakouts, busts, and all the overreactions that we live for. It’s all going down on Yahoo Fantasy this year. Me and Landon. Yes, Landon. We’re going to convince them to play fantasy football for the first time this year. Are playing on Yahoo Fantasy and you should too. Whether you’re a first timer or a veteran making your millionth league, Yahoo Yahoo Fantasy is the absolute best platform to host your fantasy league. And to celebrate 28 years of fantasy greatness, Yahoo Fantasy is dropping 28 big new features over 28 days, giving you more ways to play, more ways to draft, and more ways to win. And it all begins on August 4th. So stay tuned and start by creating or joining a fantasy football league on Yahoo at yahoofantasy.comlotnfl. That is yahoo fantasy.com/lot NFL and let’s make this fantasy season the best one yet. Welcome back to the Loton Cowboys podcast. We’d like to thank you for making us your first listen of the day. We wanted to let you know that the lockdown NFL top 100 is here. Voted on by the NFL host of the Locked On podcast network. Our top 100 was formed by experts that cover these teams and players every single day. Find the full list on Locked on Sports Today on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast. And don’t miss where the top Cowboy players are uh or where they were landed and who are the ones that should have been ranked inside the top 100 that weren’t. All right, Le, let’s talk about Christian Wilkins who was released by the Raiders on Thursday. The Cowboys obviously have a need for a veteran defensive tackle. We’ve been talking about it for months now. Is this something that they should pursue? There’s a lot of questions around this one. And man, this one is really weird. You just don’t look I mean when I when I have been saying over these last few weeks that that a defensive tackle will be available for the Cowboys to get, I did not mean Christian Wilkins. Uh so there’s something going on here, something serious, right? So, uh it’s you don’t see this kind of caliber of defensive tackle just become available at this point in the season. Um you know, I and and especially since, you know, he’s losing quite a bit of money, uh based on, you know, whatever happened there with the situation with his injury. Let I guess that’s what we should start with is that he has a foot injury he’s been recovering from since I think it’s November if if I’m not mistaken was the so it’s he’s had it for a while and the recovery has been let’s say a roller coaster. Uh it’s been a lot of two steps forward, one step back and then sometimes one step forward, two steps back. Uh he’s been in in a boot, he’s been out of a boot. Uh, so it sounds like Oakland was just kind of done with the situation and they saw an opportunity to get out from underneath a contract that they did not like and and that he potentially was not playing the the the injury, the recovery the way that they wanted to. So, there’s a lot to kind of unpack with this whole situation. I always come back to this when it comes to a lot of these players. The Raiders, I believe, I’m going to have to double check my numbers, are paying like 35 million for him to not play football for them this year, which is generally a pretty good sign that something serious is wrong. Like I remember when the Broncos traded Russell Wilson or cut Russell Wilson and they were owing him like 89 million. Like you’re not just releasing good players and paying this all all this money if they still think he can play at all, right? So I’m always a little hesitant there. But again, covering the Raiders for as long as I did, I have some connections there. It’s a pretty gnarly foot injury. Um, and kind of the word out there is that they believe that Christian Wilkins needed to get a second surgery to kind of heal what was going on uh with with this injury. He didn’t want to do it. There was no clear timeline on when he was going to get back onto the field. And I think the Raiders decided just to kind of wipe their hands at this whole situation. And it’s a shame because Christian Wilkins is a really, really good player. He’s a 315 pound defensive tackle that can play one technique, nose tackle, three technique. You can move him all down the line of scrimmage. And he was playing awesome football last year before he got hurt. But now you wonder with this foot injury that the Raiders clearly think was serious enough that he needed another surgery, what’s left and what kind of impact can he have this year? I have no idea, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a free agent for a while. Yeah. I mean, it’s just it’s it’s a lot. And there’s going to be clearly a lawsuit or or some sort of uh arbitration that goes on over over the lost money that that’s already been kind of uh hinted at by several NFL insiders. So, um, you know, and and and that doesn’t necessarily affect his, uh, uh, uh, you know, play on the field, but it’s something that’s going to be hanging over him. It’s and it’s it’s, you know, it’s going to affect the contract negotiations you might have with him. The Cowboys have a look, all things being equal, clearly the Cowboys should be interested in the play. Yes. Right. Like that’s the problem is that the Cowboys are in a situation where they’re so desperate for exactly this kind of help that getting a top 10 defensive tackle suddenly available before the season, even if he could only play for like let’s say the back half of the year or something, still worth it. It’s still worth it. like it’s still worth looking into for the Cowboys because you feel like yeah, maybe you could survive the first half and then maybe you get a motivated, hungry, really powerful interior player who could be the kind of centerpiece of of the the finishing piece of what could be a very good defense at that point. All right, that is it for today’s show. We want to thank you for making Loton Cowboys your first listen every single day. Uh make sure you follow us on YouTube, download the podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Uh enjoy your weekend. We’ll see you right back here on Monday.

COWBOYS’ DEFENSE DOMINATES EARLY CAMP: DONOVAN EZEIRUAKU EMERGES AS POTENTIAL STAR

Rookie Donovan Ezeiruaku stuns in Dallas Cowboys training camp, showcasing advanced pass-rushing techniques and explosive speed off the line. The defense outperforms the offense despite missing key players like Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs. Marcus Mosher and Landon McCool analyze standout performances from Solomon Thomas and Israel Mukuamu, while debating Deuce Vaughn’s progress in the new gap-oriented run scheme. The hosts also discuss the surprising release of Christian Wilkins by the Raiders and speculate on potential interest from the Cowboys.

Tune in for expert insights on the Cowboys’ defensive depth and how these early camp performances could reshape the team’s strategy for the upcoming NFL season.

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